“We are seeing a general decrease in pockets of Ebola, but unfortunately, geographically it is expanding,” World Health Organization regional director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi told The Associated Press in an interview in Beni, eastern Congo, on Friday.
Janabi said one of the biggest challenges has been convincing infected people to seek medical assistance, adding that some deaths occur in the community outside health centers.
Serge Ngalebato, an epidemiologist and field coordinator for the Wamba health zone in Haut-Uélé province, told the AP that health workers in his health zone had introduced periodic home visits because people were too afraid to go to the hospital.
Nord-Oubangui is located between Sud-Oubangui and Bas-Uélé, the last two provinces where the disease has spread along the border with the Central African Republic, where recurring armed violence has forced thousands of people to flee and take refuge in Congolese border communities. Access to the region can be difficult due to poor road conditions and limited communications networks.
Ituri province in eastern Congo remains the epicenter of the disease, accounting for nearly three-quarters of confirmed cases, according to the most recent government data, which shows 66 health zones have been affected since the outbreak began.
Gn Health
